Returning
by Nyota
Summary: set five years after the movie, Chihiro is having a hard time settling in to reality, and longs to return to the Spirit World.
1. The Red Wall

Disclaimer: I do not own Spirited Away, any of it's charecters or the world they live in. I did make up a few charecters of my own and if they or the story line is bad that is my fault, not Hayao Miyazaki or Studio Ghibli

Hi! this is my first fanfic ever (just thought I'd mention that before you read it). It is set about five years after the movie. I will be hopfully adding more SOON. I hope you like it. I know it is short.

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I stared at the gate before me, the red wall with the walkway through it which was the only gate to the Spirit World, to Lin, to Zeniba, to Haku. Ever since I rescued my parents and returned to reality, I had felt lost. Like this world held no more beauty for me. 

About a year after I had returned I had come here for the first time after Dad's shortcut; ready to walk through the gate before me and across the bridge to the bath house. But that first time, like all the others, I couldn't do it. I couldn't leave my parents, I couldn't leave my new friends and most recently I couldn't leave my 10-year-old cousin, Hana, whom we had taken in after her parents had died in a car crash four years ago.

With one last longing glance at the wall I turned around and started the long walk home, little did I know that I had been watched.


	2. Missing

Disclaimer: I do not own Spirited Away, any of it's charecters or the world they live in. I did make up a few charecters of my own and if they or the story line is bad that is my fault, not Hayao Miyazaki's or Studio Ghibli's

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"Mom, I'm home" I cried opening the door to my families blue house. I walked into my room and dumped my backpack on my desk. "Mom" I shouted, louder this time. My mother was always waiting for me to get home from school. I frowned. It was unlike her to be gone at this hour without telling me. 

"Mom" I shouted again walking into my parent's work room. "Calm down Chihiro, I'm right here." It was my dad, typing on the computer. My frown increased. Was dad working from home today? Why did he look so worried? Was I late? I couldn't be, I had gone to the red wall directly from school. I glanced at my wrist watch, 3:30. I gasped, my school let out at 2:40. Had I really been staring at the wall for 50 minutes? Well then I guess I was lucky mom wasn't home, if she was I was going to have some explaining to do.

I was about to ask where mom was when he said in a worried voice "Chihiro, do you know where Hana is? She didn't come home from school today and your mother is out looking for her." I looked at him puzzled, "Why would I know where she is?" After all, Hana's elementary school got out at 2:20, she was always home before I even got out. "Is she at Kioko's?" Kioko was Hana's good friend and they where know to go over to each others houses without telling the parents. Dad signed worriedly "I just got off the phone with them, Hana isn't there, Kioko said that after school Hana told her that she would be with you," Dad seemed to be waiting for my words, telling him that Hana has been right behind me all along. All he got was the shocked look on my face. "I've also emailed the Smiths, Jones and the Clarks. She's not there either..."

I tuned out the rest of what dad was saying. Hana said that she would be with me. To get to the red wall, I had to walk right passes Hana's school. She would have seen me. What if she didn't want to be seen? A little voice said in my head. Hana had always shown a little too much interest in where I went when I disappeared about every month. What if she had followed me and got lost on the way back? What if she had crossed the gate way and went into the Spirit World? If she had, I had to find her.

"Dad I think I know where Hana went, it will take me a while to get there so don't be worried if I get home late." I rushed my words, almost slurring them together. Then I raced into my room and grabbed my backpack off my desk. I emptied out the biggest pocket of all my school stuff, and stuffed in all the things I could think of needing. Food, jackets, extra socks all went into the bag.

When I had taken everything I could think of needing, I raced to the front door and shouted at my dad "I'm leaving!" I shut the door just as I heard dad asking where I was going. I didn't have time to explain that I thought that my 10-year-old cousin had gone to the Spirit World, a dangerous palace were she could meet all sorts of bad things, so I continued running. I ran down my street and on the main road leading out of town.

I'm not a very athletic person, especially when it comes to running, but now all I could think about was Hana. Was she scared? Did she know where she was? Did she know that everyone back home was looking for her? If I had not been so scared I would have been mad at her. She had followed me to my secret place, a place only I went to, and she could be in the world that I had dreamed about for five years.

Now I was running past the tiny shrines that lined the right side of the dirt road. I still wondered if there really were spirits living in them. Maybe, in the Spirit World these shrines were houses.

I came up to the statue that marked the red wall behind it as a portal to a mythical world faster than I expected. And then I froze. In front of the wall was a pink backpack, Hana's backpack. As sure as I had been that Hana had come here, there was a part of me that didn't believe it at all. A part of me that now was thrown into shock. Hana really had followed me. I looked up at the sky. The sun was dangerously close to disappearing behind the mountains. If I didn't get to Hana soon, she would be disappear, forever.


End file.
